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Jack Stapleton
Jack Stapleton, the alias of Rodger Baskerville III, is the main antagonist in ''The Hound of the Baskervilles''. In The Slobbery Hound, Stapleton is portrayed by Sean Hennigan. Biography Rodger Baskerville III was born in either 1849 or 1859, somewhere in Brazil. His father, Rodger Baskerville, Jr., was youngest brother and black sheep of a generation of the Baskerville Family. He ended up leaving England in order to escape the law, and died penniless, from yellow fever, in South America in 1876. It was believed that he died childless as well. At some point growing up, Rodger Baskerville III learned about his ancestry: like his father, he was a direct descendant of Sir Hugo Baskerville, who cursed the entire family that any family member who dared wander onto the moor at night would be attacked and killed by a giant supernatural hound. Sir Hugo was the first one to die, after trying to escape. Baskerville ended up relocating to Cuba, and after spending some time there, he married a beautful Costa Rican woman named Beryl García. Baskerville embezzled a considerable sum of public money, changed his name to Jack Vandeleur, and fled to England with his wife. Using the money, he created and headed a school in East Yorkshire. In 1887, after an epidemic of yellow fever killed a tutor and 3 schoolboys, the school went bankrupt. The same year, the Vandeleurs changed their name to Stapleton, and moved down to Grimpen, a village on the moors of Dartmoor. The Stapletons moved to an area a 3/4 mile southwest of Baskerville Hall, living in Merripit House, a former cattle-house just south of the Grimpen Mire. Stapleton turned to burglary to support him and his wife, and at one point, he fatally shot someone who caught him. Stapleton also learned that Sir Charles Baskerville returned to the mansion to restore the Baskerville Family name, and had made a fortune in doing so. With this new information, Stapleton plotted to kill Sir Charles and steal the family fortune of £750,000 for himself. He pretended to be friendly to Sir Charles, and the two exchanged pleasentries often. As part of the plan, Beryl posed as Stapleton's sister. One day, Sir Charles told Stapleton the legend of the Hound of the Baskervilles. Stapleton, upon learning that Sir Charles was scared of the legend and also had a weak heart, gained an idea: kill Sir Charles using the legend. On May 4, 1889, the plan was put into effect: Stapleton used the legend of the Hound to scare Sir Charles to the point that he suffered a fatal heart attack. In addition, he knew that should anything happen to Sir Charles, all of the money will go to his nephew and Stapleton's cousin Sir Henry, who was now the last surviving member of the Baskerville Family besides Stapleton, so Stapleton plotted to kill Sir Henry as well. The Slobbery Hound Meeting Dr. Watson and Sir Henry Baskerville On October 13, 1889, Dr. Watson arrives at Merripit House. Sticking once again to pretending to be friendly, Stapleton invites Watson in. He asks Watson if Sherlock Holmes had found any suspects involved in the death of Sir Charles. Watson is confused, as he never mentioned Holmes, but Stapleton tells him that in a small town, news travels fast, and that if Watson was here, so was Holmes. Little did either of them know that Holmes was actually spying on them through the window. At this moment, Sir Henry and Beryl walk in, finishing a tour of the town and the moors that was guided by Beryl. Sir Henry wants to contribute to the town by making a school, but Stapleton dismisses this idea, saying that the townsfolk are superstitious peasents. No sooner does he say this then a distant howl is heard by everyone. Stapleton tells them that the moor makes strange noises, and gets up from his chair and grabs a butterfly net. Disguise revealed On October 19, Holmes arrived at Merripit House, once again to spy on Stapleton. He had just realized that Stapleton bore some similarities to Sir Hugo Baskerville. Thinking that nobody is watching him, Stapleton rips off his fake beard, smiling sinisterly. He was yet again unaware that Holmes was in fact watching him. The Trap At Merripit House, Sir Henry and Stapleton are dining on bread and wine. Beryl is not with then. Sir Henry hears a noise from upstairs, and Stapleton tells him that it is rodents. He had actually bound and gagged Beryl to a chair upstairs. Stapleton offers Sir Henry more wine, but as soon as he does, a howl is heard, causing a terrified Sir Henry to leave for the Hall. Stapleton at first follows Sir Henry out the door, but then walks over to the side of the house. As Sir Henry wanders through the foggy moor, Holmes greets him. The howl is heard again, and Sir Henry turns to see Stapleton smiling with sadistic glee, with the hound at his heels. Watson, who was hiding in the bushes, tells Stapleton to stop, and chases after him. Gunshots are heard, and Watson emerges with his hand covered in phosphorus. Holmes reveals that not only did Stapleton paint the hound with phosphorus to scare Sir Henry, but he also starved it to the point where it would kill practially anything. Holmes and Watson chase aftter Stapleton. In the next scene, Holmes and Watson are seen back at their flat in London. Stapleton's fate is unknown, but it is known that he was defeated. Holmes says that "his punishment is most assured", so it is presumed that he was arrested and sentenced. Physical Description Stapleton has dark brown hair in a receding hairline, grey eyes, a dark brown English moustache, and a fake dark brown beard. Stapleton wears a gray vest, a white club-collar shirt, a black tie, black pants, and black shoes. * For the climax, Stapleton wears a brown suit, a white wing-collar shirt, a red tie, and the same pants and shoes. Behind the Scenes In The Slobbery Hound, Stapleton was played by Sean Hennigan. Trivia * In the original novel, Stapleton dies while running from Holmes and Watson: He runs into the Grimpen Mire, a deadly peat bog, and drowns when he steps at a wrong angle. Category:Characters Category:Villains